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TCI Origins

The difficulty in finding capable facilitators for cluster development initiatives has been pointed out on numerous occasions, particularly at the First International Workshop for Cluster Practitioners organized by the World Bank in Chihuahua (Mexico) in November 1997.

UNIDO and World Bank representatives signaled in this occasion that this problem was especially acute in developing countries. Moreover, there is a general consensus among cluster practitioners that the best solution to this lack of expertise is to develop local consulting and facilitating skills.

In practice, the ideal background for cluster facilitators is a combination of economic development, business strategy and organizational change expertise. Such expertise often must be developed through practice, since there are few if any education or training programs that cover all the relevant disciplines. This creates a distinct need to concentrate local experiences into one center of excellence open to all practitioners.

For this reason, a group of professionals and cluster practitioners of diverse backgrounds and nationalities decided to found The Competitiveness Institute, a non-profit, global network of cluster practitioners dedicated to facilitating the spread and success of cluster-based competitiveness initiatives through networking.

The formal constitution of The Competitiveness Institute took place during the Institute’s First Annual Conference dedicated to “Nuts and Bolts of Cluster Development”, held in Barcelona on 3-5 November 1998.